10 Perfect Punk Albums That Changed Rock Music History

4. Black Flag: My War (1984)

These days you're more likely to hear Henry Rollins give a TED Talk about the virtues of political freedom, than you are to see him perform live music. He's become something of a social spokesmen, drawing attention to the class and political divides of America. But he's just traded out one medium for another. Back in the '80s he expressed the isolated, disillusionment of the underserved youth, through aggressively passionate rock.

When Henry Rollins joined Black Flag, he was the slap in the face the group needed to finally get into the studio. Their debut, Damaged (1981) become the holy grail of hardcore records, and all but informed the movement on how things should be done.

But, their follow up album isolated hardcore fans, who found the sludgier tone, and inclusion of guitar solos, almost a sellout move. Hard to imagine given the complete lack of commercial appeal this album has...

But non the less, this was one hell of an important record. My War was the moment when punk rock met heavy metal, essentially serving as the blueprint for grunge. Buzz Osborne from the Melvin's would take this sound and use it to drive the emerging noise of sludge and doom metal, and when Kurt Cobain saw Black Flag, it gave him the incentive to come up with his own take on punk.